Finally, the Republican craziness rears its ugly head somewhere besides Florida and Virginia. This time, it is Washington State Representative, Ed Orcutt (Republican), who’s firing the next shot in the Republican war on science. Orcutt recently argued that bicycling is equally bad for the environment as driving cars, because when we bike, we breathe out CO2. Wow! The craziness is strong in this one.
As noted at Americablog, “Republicans generally hate cyclists. Since heaven forbid anyone exercise, or use roads in a manner that actually decreases the pollution impact. Cyclists are socialists, you see, and simply must be destroyed.” Orcutt was responding to a question about a tax he wants to impose on bicyclists, and said:
“Also, you claim that it is environmentally friendly to ride a bike. But if I am not mistaken, a cyclist has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.”
Scarier still is that Orcutt is the top Republican on the Transportation Committee.
What’s truly sad, as noted in that same article at Americablog is that, “Orcutt isn’t the fringe of the GOP, he is the GOP.”
Chris at Americablog notes the following examples of the GOP divorce from reality:
- Marco Rubio’s insane claim that no one knows the real age of the earth;
- There are Republican theories on how women’s bodies have a way of shutting down pregnancies resulting from rape;
- Or nutty Joe Walsh’s claim that pregnancy is no longer ever a risk to the life of the mother (false) because science has “solved” that problem;
- Or Missouri Republican Rick Brattin – who calls himself “a huge science buff” — who wants to force the redefinition, in law, of the phrase “scientific theory” to include “faith-based philosophy.” So this way, priests could call themselves “scientists,” and creationism would be “science;”
- Or the Republican US Senator who compared global warming science to Hitler. (“First they came for the ozone…”);
- Or the head of the Texas science curriculum board who had to resign because she believed in evolution.
It seems to get worse daily. As commenter noted, “Yes, the GOP has a ‘crazy’ problem, but they have an even more serious one. An “embrace of ignorance” problem. They don’t even bother to try to be rational or present facts to support their positions anymore. They just make up shit and assert that it’s true, even when it’s objectively false and patently ridiculous.”